Post-Christmas Post

I'm hooooommmmeee! Yip-ee! Right now there are bags in every room of my house staring at me.

That one in kitchen says, "I'm melting!! Come put me up."

The ones in the playroom are daring me to just try and find a place to put the new toys.

The bags in my room are laughing because after a week at home those clothes just won't fit for a while.

And then there's the Christmas tree. So pretty. So peaceful. So a pain to pack up.

For now I will ignore them all and show you what a great Christmas we had.

First, I am not a picture-taker. I am also not a photographer, a video journalist... I can't even sketch. Take the pictures for what they offer and imagine it ten times better.

Christmas Eve was spent up on the mountain with Dave's family. I'm ashamed to say...guess what? Not one picture.

Jake played with his cousins. Walked the house a hundred times over. Racked up on good stuff and came home exhausted.

Christmas morning... guess what? I didn't take any pictures. WHAT???!!!!

Calm down, my family did and I have those pictures.

Look... here's Jake ripping into one of his many presents.

This next one makes me laugh out loud. The look on his face is hilarious.

He can be a very serious little boy when he's "working". He was working hard trying to get this one unwrapped.

And here's Jake riding on one of his many presents.

He's just adorable.

Next on the to-do list. Steering. He's hit walls, chairs and even my sister's dog. But it doesn't stop my boy. He just keeps hitting that button....banging into the same wall or chair or dog over and over again until someone comes and rescues him.

Yep, my boy needs driver's ed the toddler's edition.

So here I sit... among the bags and by the glow of the tree. Happy that all that work is over. Sad, that all the work and laughter and family time and birthday celebrating is over.

It's on to resolution time.

Resolution numero uno. I, Jenny White, will try to improve my unpacking skills. Becoming more efficient and speedy at returning my house to a normal state after a trip.

The good news. Resolutions don't start till Friday. Guess I'll ignore those bags for another 24 hours.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

What would we do without cheese?

My boy won't eat. Never really has. These days are worse then usual.

He will eat a slice of cheese, cheetos and sometimes carrots and chicken nuggets. That's it.

Meal times are difficult and very frustrating. We do mental cartwheels when he actually eats a decent supper. Oh.. I forgot... he won't eat anything before 10:30... so no real breakfast.

If it wasn't for pediasure... we'd be in trouble.

Jake also has some texture issues. If you go from cheetos to carrots, you're gonna have to give him about three bites of carrots until he will actually swallow it and not gag.

We have a feeding therapist but haven't seen her in a while because things had gotten better.

Now, I can't wait till after Christmas to see her. I just want to walk in... and say... "Here... YOU do it!"

Today for example. He didn't eat his veggies, his fruit or even a bite of pizza I bought just to get him to eat. Jake had me hopeful for a few brief moments. The bite would get in his is mouth.. I would think, "ah.. success!!!" and then he'd spit it out.

For lunch he had a piece of cheese, goldfish and a pediasure.

Tonight: no mac, no carrots, no cheetos.... just two pieces of cheese and pediasure.

Guess what?? Jake is constipated. Hello miralax... meet cheese....and pediasure. I think you all are gonna be buddies for quite some time.

Yep... what would we do without cheese?

Too Cute!

He's so good.

Jake never fails to surprise me. Just when I think I know his limits, his challenges and his strong points.. he proves me wrong.

For about a year and a half the White house has struggled with bedtime. He is extremely hard to put to bed. He figets. He squirms. He fights it. I mean.. we would rock him for two hours some nights. I always wanted to let him put himself to sleep, but because of his heart condition we couldn't let him cry. So...Dave and I took turns. Whoever felt most calm each night got to put JAke to sleep.

That is until... this week.

Mama bear had enough. Daddy bear was gone. And baby bear's heart is fixed. So the sleep training began. Jake and I read our books. Said our prayers. Rocked for 1o minutes and I put him to bed. Do you know that little booger was asleep in about 45 minutes with only crying once?

The next night it took him 30...and the next 20.

I can't tell you how much happier this house is at night. Seriously, I feel like I've got my Christmas present already. Thank you Lord for letting my little boy succeed.

Now, If I could only get him to keep a blanket on at night. That just might take a miracle.

Let Me Introduce Myself.

Hi! My name is Jenny. I have a blog that I have ignore for a little while now.

Sorry. I was trying to think of excuses. Like my dog ate my computer. But I don't have a dog so that's not possible.

Or whatta about... I ran over my computer with my car. ( Nope... that was my cell phone)

So we'll go with the lame-oh excuse of it's cold and I get lazy when it gets cold.

We have been chugging along as usual. Jake is back in all his therapies. That's seven to eight appointments a week.

He just went through a 6 month review with the state program we are in. He is graded in five areas. His highest score was in cognition. He actually scored age appropriate. That means he is doing great. We always pray for cognition to be the highest because it's something you can't teach. Either ya got it or ya don't and Jake has got it!!

His lowest score was in communication. No surprise there. We have changed speech therapist and I AM IN LOVE WITH THE NEW ONE. Not only is she creative and organized, come to findout... she goes to my church. It means a lot when you know the people who work with your son have faith in THE SON.

I want to tell everyone thank you again and again. Your support during Jake's surgery still amazes me. I want to share the results of your gifts. Because you all went over and beyond, Jake's medical bills are PAID IN FULL!! Dave and I added it up and the total surgery experience ran NINETY THOUSAND DOLLARS. Of course because of our great insurance we paid only a fraction of that. We are so blessed to say that Jake's surgery is completely behind us.

OK...how about a picture? We put up our Christmas tree and Jake did this..

and this...

We lost three ornaments in the process... and Mickey is now crippled but he's "hanging" in there.

Mickey is hanging right next to this guy.

One little ornament. So many blessings.

Putting up decorations with a toddler is... well it's challenging.

Now I just have to get shopping. Maybe I'll go this week. Maybe not.

P.S. Uncle Bryan I got your message.

Heart Update

Hey all!! Just wanted to let you know about Jake's heart doctor appointment yesterday.

We were told Jake's heart looks BETTER then it did last month. The doctor even said she could barely even hear his heart murmur.

God is Good! We are so Thankful!